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Descendents

Milo Goes To College
1982
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Descendents - Milo Goes To College (Cover Artwork)

Review by: Zeiter
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Published on August 3rd 2002

When one looks at the earlier albums of any band, especially punk bands, the oldest tend to be the worst (NOFX anyone?). So when I first heard this album, knowing that it was the Descendents first full length album, I didn't expect anything great.

To my suprise, I found an album that ranked up there with 'Everything Sucks' and 'All', perhaps even better that the two. While this album may not have the production values of the two newer releases I mentioned, the songs are as good. "Myage" is a great song to kick off an album, a sweet bass line and we're off! A song like "Suburban Home" basically sums up the sentiment of society at the time, always wanting to fit nicley into categories, this tune does a great job of poking fun at this aspect of pop culture. "Hope" is basically the rally cry of all lovelorne 'losers' in the 1980's. This song is the best song Milo ever wrote, and ranks up there as one of the best Descendents tunes. Any pop-punk band would have had to have listened to this album alot in order to achieve a decent pop sound.

Calling this album pop-punk, though, is an unfair generalization. There are also alot of more hardcore bursts of energy... basically any song under one minute, or around there. This is why this album has influenced both popier and more hardcore bands, the album has aspects of both, but makes both work with a great sense of melody.

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Posted by madison on 2008-03-11 13:24:41
My Score:

this is probably one of my absolute favorite albums of all time.

Posted by bankrupt on 2008-03-06 18:15:26
My Score:

I fckin love "Milo goes to college" it's one of the best punk rawk albums i ever heard."Suburban home" is an awesome song from that album

Posted by Xithyl on 2008-02-19 19:49:12
My Score:

One of the best albums I have ever heard and one that shaped the way I listened to music growing up. Endless appreciation.

Posted by dontwantaname on 2008-02-07 03:31:43

Ha, this album's fuckin' SICK!! I think I've listened to it about 3 times.

Posted by walkamongusx on 2008-01-18 20:01:08
My Score:

This album is amazing. Bikeage and Hope are to me ...by far the best songs on the album and just two of the best "punk" and just all around rock songs i have ever heard.
I feel proud wearing my self made printed descendents shirt. these guys are legends.

Posted by i-hate-winnipeg on 2007-10-14 22:33:32
My Score:

amazingly great album!!!

and to thte dumbass that said that this album is just plain punk and even homophobic...

1. DUH!

2. no it's not! sure, he says "you fucking homo!" and stuff in I'm Not a Loser, but he's singing about what people say to him! you should probably look up these guys before you accuse because normally geeks get harrassed like that in highschool (around the time this album was made)...

Posted by AlexBLP on 2007-09-24 15:40:34

An absolute 24 carat classic for sure.

with regard to the questionable lyrics to 'Im Not A Loser', you've got to remember that a) these guys were still very young kids when this was recorded, and b) the whole album is filled with goofy, nervous, nerdy anger. look at the stuff they wrote later than this! ('Ergo Fart' anyone?) that ranting style language in ' ..Loser' is nothing more than what kids say, and they themselves have always maintained that it was just young punk rock banter.

Unlike the calculated hatred repeatedly brought up, supported and condoned after the fact by the fully grown men in Bad Brains.. but no-one dares say a word against them!

Posted by warped on 2007-09-03 21:41:53
My Score:

One of the best albums from the 80s

Posted by SumWon on 2007-08-03 15:02:53

Great album. Changed everything for me.

This is one of the few albums that attained sequencing perfection: Put one of your best songs at the very beginning, followed by your shorter songs to get the album moving. Then pile all of your other best songs on towards the end. Gives you some immediate gratification to get things going and then knocks you on your ass repeatedly as it wraps up.

Posted by brendino on 2007-04-18 15:09:55
My Score:

This and the bonus fat are my favorite descendents albums

Posted by tjrocks12 on 2007-02-14 09:32:14

i heard "suburban home" and "i'm not a loser" and now i want this so fucking bad! but my gay little F.Y.E. store seems more concerned with rappers and country bums!!!! there's a "hip-hop" section, theres a "country" section , there's even a "metal" section. but no fucking punk. why can't there be an "Alternative/punk" section?!?!?! why must i dig around in the "rock/pop" sectio for black flag and sick of it all!!!!

Posted by mike_litt69 on 2007-02-13 18:59:25
My Score:

i heard som of their newer shit and loved it. then i downloaded milo goes to college and was disapointed. it is just a plain punk sounding album with a homophoebic message.

Posted by tjrocks12 on 2007-02-08 10:21:05
My Score:

great album. short, punchy songs with good vocals.

Posted by jt on 2006-12-13 21:29:56
My Score:

Amazing album! even if u dont like this album u have to respect the descendents for all of the bands that they set the stage for

Posted by noway on 2006-11-09 20:14:01

this is an obvious must have for any punk. descendents at their best

Posted by resolute_infliction on 2006-10-29 22:52:56
My Score:

This album is more than just an excellent collection suggestion, but a MANDATORY one.

Posted by totalstranga on 2006-07-25 21:55:09
My Score:

great album. I'm suprised no ones bashed the lyrics to Im Not A Loser as homophobic. I think they are in jest though, and I found it funny when I was like 12 and in 6th grade like someone below was saying, all skateboarding and shit.

Posted by Sasquatch on 2006-07-21 13:28:03

This album should be considered one of the best and most important punk albums ever released. This is right up there with Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables and Ramones. The contribution the Descendants have made to punk is unmeasurable. Half the punk bands out there either wouldn't exist or would have a completely different sound if not for the Descendants. Not only that, but this is truely a great album, too.

Posted by kill_fftl on 2006-07-13 00:48:41
My Score:

words cannot explain this album other then one of the best punk albums

perfect 5 stars

Posted by JakeRazor on 2006-07-11 11:34:47
My Score:

I wish I could give this album a million stars. Or more.

God it's good.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, June 9, 2006 at 12:50 AM (EDT)

Easily one of the best punk albums of all time. The fact the reviewer heard this album after "Everything Sucks" and "ALL" is kind of sad

Posted by kingofpain on 2006-05-16 21:20:22
My Score:

Why the fuck isn't this a ten?

Posted by kingofpain on 2006-05-16 21:20:20
My Score:

Why the fuck isn't this a ten?

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 at 12:50 PM (EDT)
My Score:

this should have got a 10

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, April 6, 2006 at 7:04 AM (EDT)
My Score:

first time I heard this album I was in the 6th grade skating my ass to my girlfriends house with my cassette Walkman...vivid memory........ hahahaha.
i don't know why I wrote this

Posted by timmytheturtle1039 on 2005-12-15 13:16:57
My Score:

alot better than everything sucks and i dont want to grow up

Posted by miff on 2005-11-02 16:02:28

i cant find this cd for les than £16 which sucks so i havent bought hoping ill find it for £8 or summat like that but in the meantime ill have to hope

Posted by miff on 2005-11-02 16:00:39

punk bands usualy produce their best stuff on theri first records look at black flag dead kenedys minor threat bad religion fugazi rancid operation ivy in my opinion their best stuff cmae first n then they just deteriorated well not bad religion

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, February 25, 2005 at 4:40 PM (EST)
My Score:

Fat Mike's favorite album.

Posted by zeiter on 2002-08-06 12:24:38
My Score:

Yeah, I was wrong in saying that punk bands usually suck on their earlier releases. The Ramones early stuff kicks ass compared to their later work. But generally speaking, most bands get better with experiance, although there are a few exceptions.

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, August 5, 2002 at 5:51 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Great album.

You're wrong about how older punk albums are the worst.
Compare the Ramones first albums to their later ones.

Most punk bands were only good for an album or 2. Many didn't even make it to that stage(EP's). For most punk bands, the more albums they put out, the shittier they became, like NoFX, who was really only good for a few songs anyway.

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, August 5, 2002 at 10:29 AM (EDT)
My Score:

It always seems like Everything Suck, my favorite descendents album, gets mixed ranking among classic descendents albums. I think it is 10 time better than Somery but only a little better than Milo Goes to College. Unfortunately I missed seeing them at Skate and Surf Fest, which would have been my first and only time seeing them. But hopefuly, with a new album in the works, I will get to go watch them on a tour... hopefully. Oh yea, and All sucks. Cant stand them.-pat41

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, August 5, 2002 at 9:32 AM (EDT)
My Score:

Classic, reminds me of my early skateboarding days back in the day-oldpunker

Posted by sickboi on 2002-08-04 22:12:50
My Score:

Awesome, but I'd recommend "Somery", it has all the classic shit on one album.

Posted by evildeadalive on 2002-08-04 02:45:59
My Score:

Yes, I bought Two things at Once also. It was actually cheaper than either MGTC or Bonus Fat were individually, who the hell knows why.
One of the greatest albums of all time by any band.
147 times better than Everything Sucks by the way (even though I don't dislike that album).

Posted by waste_elite on 2002-08-04 02:43:27
My Score:

easily my favorite descendents album. classic.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, August 3, 2002 at 11:02 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Instead of getting this, get "Two Things at Once" which has this and the Bonus Fat EP together on one CD for about the same price. I think Liveage is over-all the best 'dents CD, mostly because the versions on there pack so much more punch than their studio counterparts. And I agree with an earlier poster, Everything Sucks is my fav 'dents studio album. They, along with ALL, just get better with age. The mature songwriting on the ALL albums and the Descendents reunion album sounds a lot better to me. This is still an excellent album though.

Posted by JonBonBandersnatch on 2002-08-03 18:04:21
My Score:

i agree with the anonymous post. this is hands down their best most consistently good album of their career. ten times better than everything sucks and twenty times better than all. i think "i dont wanna grow up" is better than both of those albums (athough as one poster put it, it get really sappy at times).

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, August 3, 2002 at 5:24 PM (EDT)
My Score:

You think this might be "ranked up there with All and Everything Sucks"? Sorry buddy, but this is as great as this band would ever get, those two albums don't even come close.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, August 3, 2002 at 4:26 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Hope is a rally cry for lovelorne losers in the 1980s. Only in the 80s? I'd say it sums up my life today.

Posted by TheOneTrueBill on 2002-08-03 16:06:46
My Score:

a really good record, my favorite descendents one, but they ended up getting a little too poppy for my tastes later on (side 2 of "I Dont want to grow up" i cant even listen to)

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, August 3, 2002 at 3:33 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Finally! I was waiting for someone to review this album. I wrote a review for this about 2 months ago, but after reading it over, I realized it sucked ass (like the rest of my reviews, can't write for shit), so I never sent it in. Anyway, great album. This is their best, without a doubt. This has a lot more energy that their others. -SaYnE GuY (spelling errors and all.)

Posted by AtomicGarden on 2002-08-03 15:06:48
My Score:

This is one of the greatest albums of the 80's in the punk scene. When I think of the Descendents, I think of Hope. I think of "I'm not a Punk" and "I'm not a Loser"... what a fucking awesome album. Easily my favorite Descendent's album.